To ask the Scottish Executive how Roxburgh and Berwickshire will benefit from the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, detailing those benefits and showing the knock-on effects on local projects and investments.
Hosting the Commonwealth Games presents the whole of Scotland with great opportunities to make material improvements to people''s lives: to improve people''s health, to help get people into work, to increase the confidence and international profile of Scotland and to make Scotland a more environmentally-friendly country. As well as bringing estimated net economic benefits of £81 million and 1,200 net new jobs at a Scottish level, the games can lend impetus to the delivery of existing priorities and programmes across all policy interests be they sport, health, education, business, cultural, tourism, volunteering and others.
That is why we have consulted widely - through a written consultation and through public meetings at 16 locations across Scotland “ to establish where and, as importantly, how we can best use the games to benefit and leave a lasting legacy to all areas of Scotland. We have put in place a comprehensive group structure comprising internal and external stakeholders to consider that feedback and help develop and deliver a Games Legacy Plan. In doing so we will look to optimise the opportunities the games present whilst remaining realistic in our ambitions. The detailed Games Legacy Plan is due to be published in summer 2009.
Key to the level of success depends on everyone being committed to the plan and playing their part in making it work at a national and local level. Just as we did to win the bid, it is vitally important that we all unite behind the common goal of making these games a success for all of Scotland.